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Dec. 30, 2008: Resort just a big boondoggle

To The Editor:
It seems that the realities of the economy have sunk in to everyone except the Belleayre Resort proponents.
Just as everyone else is reading about projects being halted in midstream as funding dries up, they are still dreaming of a bailout from New York State in the form of money to develop Highmount for mostly their own exclusive use.
This project is as dead as the Bush economy. The people of this area should be giving thanks that this project was delayed 10 years, otherwise we might be looking at a half-built boondoggle that could neither be completed nor sold. If it were completed, where exactly would the rich people buying into these luxury condos and timeshares come from? The current real estate market tells us that the size of the upscale market was a fiction driven by speculators, as is the Belleayre Resort.
Why are the Belleayre Resort developers still pushing their product? Perhaps, like the mortgage lenders, they make money regardless of the soundness of the investment which is simply passed on to other investors. Or perhaps they are trying to convince New York State this is still a viable project and hope to recoup their losses in a bigger buyout of the entire property by the state.
Whatever the reason, we should all breathe a big sigh of relief that the resort got nowhere.